2 Chronicles 9
New King James Version
The Queen of Sheba’s Praise of Solomon(A)
9 Now (B)when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, having a very great retinue, camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. 2 So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for Solomon that he could not explain it to her. 3 And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 4 the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his (C)cupbearers and their apparel, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her.
5 Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. 6 However I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You exceed the fame of which I heard. 7 Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! 8 Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, setting you on His throne to be king for the Lord your God! Because your God has (D)loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”
9 And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great abundance, and precious stones; there never were any spices such as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10 Also, the servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon, (E)who brought gold from Ophir, brought [a]algum wood and precious stones. 11 And the king made walkways of the [b]algum wood for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also harps and stringed instruments for singers; and there were none such as these seen before in the land of Judah.
12 Now King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all she desired, whatever she asked, much more than she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
Solomon’s Great Wealth(F)
13 (G)The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, 14 besides what the traveling merchants and traders brought. And all the kings of Arabia and governors of the country brought gold and silver to Solomon. 15 And King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of hammered gold went into each shield. 16 He also made three hundred shields of hammered gold; [c]three hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. The king put them in the (H)House of the Forest of Lebanon.
17 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne; there were [d]armrests on either side of the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the armrests. 19 Twelve lions stood there, one on each side of the six steps; nothing like this had been made for any other kingdom.
20 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. 21 For the king’s ships went to (I)Tarshish with the servants of [e]Hiram. Once every three years the [f]merchant ships came, bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and [g]monkeys.
22 So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 23 And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 24 Each man brought his present: articles of silver and gold, garments, (J)armor, spices, horses, and mules, at a set rate year by year.
25 Solomon (K)had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem.
26 (L)So he reigned over all the kings (M)from [h]the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. 27 (N)The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedar trees (O)as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland. 28 (P)And they brought horses to Solomon from Egypt and from all lands.
Death of Solomon(Q)
29 (R)Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, in the prophecy of (S)Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of (T)Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? 30 (U)Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 31 Then Solomon [i]rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
Footnotes
- 2 Chronicles 9:10 almug, 1 Kin. 10:11, 12
- 2 Chronicles 9:11 almug, 1 Kin. 10:11, 12
- 2 Chronicles 9:16 three minas, 1 Kin. 10:17
- 2 Chronicles 9:18 Lit. hands
- 2 Chronicles 9:21 Heb. Huram; cf. 1 Kin. 10:22
- 2 Chronicles 9:21 Lit. ships of Tarshish, deep-sea vessels
- 2 Chronicles 9:21 Or peacocks
- 2 Chronicles 9:26 The Euphrates
- 2 Chronicles 9:31 Died and joined his ancestors
2 Chronicles 9
International Children’s Bible
The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon
9 The queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s fame. So she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. She had a very large group of people with her. She had camels that carried spices, much gold and many gems. She came to Solomon and talked with him about all her questions. 2 And Solomon answered all her questions. Nothing was too hard for him to explain to her. 3 The queen of Sheba saw that Solomon was very wise. She also saw the palace he had built. 4 She saw the food on his table and his many officers. She saw the palace servants and their good clothes. She saw the servants who served Solomon his wine. And she saw their good clothes. She saw the burnt offerings he made in the Temple of the Lord. All these things amazed her. 5 So she said to King Solomon, “I heard in my own country about your achievements and wisdom. And all of it is true. 6 I did not believe it then. But now I have come and seen it with my own eyes. Not even half of your great wisdom was told to me! You are much greater than I had heard. 7 Your men and officers are very lucky! Since they are always serving you, they are able to hear your wisdom! 8 Praise the Lord your God! He was pleased to make you king. He has put you on his throne to rule for the Lord your God. Your God loves Israel and supports Israel forever. So the Lord has made you king of Israel to keep law and order and to rule fairly.”
9 Then the queen of Sheba gave King Solomon about 9,000 pounds of gold. She also gave him many spices and gems. No one had ever given such fine spices as she gave to King Solomon.
10 Hiram’s men and Solomon’s men brought in gold from Ophir. They also brought in juniper wood and gems. 11 King Solomon used the juniper wood to make steps for the Temple of the Lord and the palace. He also used it to make lyres and harps for the singers. No one in Judah had ever seen such beautiful things as these.
12 King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and asked for. He gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she and her servants left and returned to their own country.
Solomon’s Great Wealth
13 The amount of gold that Solomon received in one year weighed about 50,000 pounds. 14 Besides that, he also received gold from merchants and traders. All the kings of Arabia and the rulers of the land also brought gold and silver to Solomon.
15 King Solomon made 200 large shields from hammered gold. Each shield contained about 7½ pounds of hammered gold. 16 Solomon also made 300 small shields of hammered gold. Each shield contained about 4 pounds of gold. King Solomon put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
17 Then he built a large throne of ivory. And he covered it with pure gold. 18 The throne had six steps on it. And it had a gold footstool on it. There were armrests on both sides of the chair. And beside each armrest was a statue of a lion. 19 Twelve lions stood on the six steps. There was one lion at each end of each step. Nothing like this had ever been made for any other kingdom. 20 All King Solomon’s drinking cups were made of gold. All of the dishes in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. In Solomon’s time people did not think silver was valuable. So nothing was made of silver. 21 King Solomon had many ships that he sent out to trade. Hiram’s men sailed Solomon’s ships. Every three years the ships returned. They brought back gold, silver, ivory, apes and baboons.
22 King Solomon had more riches and wisdom than all the other kings on earth. 23 All the kings of the earth came to see Solomon. They wanted to hear the wisdom God had given him. 24 Every year everyone who came brought a gift. They brought things made of silver and gold, clothes, weapons, spices, horses and mules.
25 Solomon had 4,000 stalls to hold his horses and chariots. He had 12,000 horses. He kept them in special cities for the chariots. And he kept some with him in Jerusalem. 26 Solomon was king over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the Philistine country to the border of Egypt. 27 In Jerusalem silver was as common as stones while Solomon was king. Cedar trees were as common as the fig trees growing on the western mountain slopes. 28 Solomon imported horses from Egypt and all other countries.
Solomon’s Death
29 The other things Solomon did as king, from the beginning to the end, are written down. They are in the writings of Nathan the prophet. And they are in the prophecy of Ahijah and the visions of Iddo. Ahijah was from Shiloh. Iddo was a seer who wrote about Jeroboam, Nebat’s son. 30 Solomon was king in Jerusalem over all Israel for 40 years. 31 Then Solomon died and was buried in Jerusalem. This was the city of his father David. And Solomon’s son Rehoboam became king in his place.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.